A three member FFA team from Prairie Central High School in Fairbury, IL won the 22nd annual World Forage Management Cup contest held recently at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, WI.  

Members of the winning team were Katie Schaffer, Tim Hartman, and Abram Zehr and all three had individual scores within the top ten of the 165 registered students.  Greg Niewold, Darren Ropp and Kyle Miller are the team's Ag Instructors and FFA Advisors. The team's combined score placed them ahead of 55 other student teams from the upper Midwest.

Prairie Central FFA teams are are no strangers to the "Winner's Circle." They won the Dairy Foods Contest held at the World Dairy Expo in 2006, 2007 and 2008.  

The World Forage Management Cup is designed to increase the participant’s knowledge of forage production and utilization.  The contest has three phases:  a written exam, identification of plants and seeds, and evaluating the quality of forage samples.  Agricultural clubs and teams of high school age students from the U.S. and Canada are welcome and eligible to participate.
 
Prairie Central High School ag instructor, team coach and FFA Advisor Greg Niewold says, "This group of students has been terrific to work with. They have a true desire to learn and know all aspects of crop sciences. And, the World Dairy Expo with the help of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, support and motivate their desire to learn. Winning such a prestigious contest as the World Forage Management Cup is a great tribute to the students, their parents, and the Prairie Central School District.

"The students and I would like to thank the contest organizers and sponsors for their generous support. We're proud to have won and the award cup will be prominantly displayed," concludes Niewold.

The annual contest is organized and managed by students and faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Plattevillechapter of the Agronomy-Soil and Water Conservation Club with the support of the World Dairy Expo and interested forage industry sponsors.
 
The official contest results were as follows:
 
Team Awards:
1st Place Team, Prairie Central FFA will receive a $250 Scholarship Award sponsored by Mycogen Seeds plus a one year possession of the traveling World Forage Management trophy to be proudly displayed at the winner’s high school.

2nd Place Team, Mount Horeb, WI FFA will receive a $125 Scholarship Award sponsored by Mycogen Seeds.

3rd Place Teams, a tie and both Cassville, WI FFA and Arcadia, WI FFA will each receive a $75 Scholarship Award sponsored by AG-BAG.
  
Individual Awards:
1st Place Overall High Score, Katie Schaffer of Prairie Central FFA, will receive a new laptop computer sponsored by Imagination Unlimited Consulting Group.

2nd Place Individual, Jon Sherry from Viroqua, WI FFA, will receive a $250 Scholarship Award sponsored by AG-BAG.

3rd Place Individual, Jordan Fure from Cassville, WI FFA, will receive a $100 Scholarship Award sponsored by Trelay Seeds.

The entire 2009 World Forage Management Cup contest team and individual placing results may be viewed on the Internet at http://ow.ly/tBm7.

In addition to the knowledge gained, all participants in the World Forage Management Cup contest received gifts from the Crop Science Society of America and Mycogen Seeds.

Contest Superintendent Dr. Kris Mahoney of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville says interest in the contest and forages is growing as evidenced by increased student registration and industry support.  "We appreciated the generous sponsors of the 2009 World Forage Management Cup," says Mahoney. "We're seeking new sponsors to help make the 2010 contest bigger, better, and more informative for our participants...our future agricultural leaders."